The Katzen Arts Center is home to all of the visual and performing arts programs at American University and the American University Museum. Located at Ward Circle, the intersection of Nebraska Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue, the Center sits atop Embassy Row in Washington, DC, one of the highest points in the nation's capital. This space, designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration in the arts, provides instructional, exhibition, and performance space for all the arts disciplines. Its art museum exhibits contemporary art from the nation's capital region and the world. The museum gallery is the Washington region’s largest university facility for art exhibition.
The Center houses many academic departments for the university, including Art History, Graphic Design, Studio Art, Multimedia, Arts Management, Dance, Music, and Theatre. The center also features a museum, a sculpture garden, a parking garage, of performing arts space, and of studio space, including theatre studios, a music ensemble room, art studios, dance studios, and the Abramson Family Recital Hall.
The construction of the Center was made possible by Dr. Cyrus and Mrs. Myrtle Katzen, who house much of their modern art collection within the building, which includes pieces by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Willem de Kooning, and Roy Lichtenstein. The museum also includes art by Jean Dubuffet, Red Grooms, Amedeo Modigliani, Larry Rivers, Frank Stella and Andy Warhol.